Posted by Erik Lundh on March 24, 2009 at 11:57 PM
This last weekend my wife and I traveled highway 101 from Lincoln City to Crescent City CA. The weather was terrible and we even had some snow in Bandon where we stayed for two nights. This shot was taken of the Crescent City Lighthouse mid afternoon in a small break from the weather. This particular lighthouse has a whole lot of potential if you hit it at the right time. Since the light was kind of harsh, I decided to convert it to B&W. The wind was really blowing and it was COLD!! What do you think?
Nice treatment on the B&W, I like the depth in the clouds a lot. We experienced some of that coastal snow last year about this time in Astoria, and couldn't believe it.
Two things that distract me a bit, are the horizontal line connecting the lighthouse to the right most tree and the vertical line going through the center of the left most tree. Otherwise, really nice capture under tough lighting conditions.
That is an interesting lighthouse. I don't think I've ever seen a photo of it before. Generally, I like it, although I think adding contrast to the sky so there was a full range of dark to light tones would strengthen this a bit.
Boy, it was cold over the weekend. I ran into about 4" of snow in the hills due East of Bandon on Sunday. It was a shocker for the location and time of year.
Posted by James Walley on March 25, 2009 at 6:31 AM
Right now, my main problems with the image are that the focal point is centered horizontally, and the sky and ground on the left aren't all that interesting. I'm thinking it might look fantastic with the left side cropped almost to the leftmost tree. Granted, you'd have a more square-ish image, but I think the effect of the tree silhouettes and lighthouse on the left-center flowing "downhill" to the bright clouds on the right would be really effective.
Posted by Marc Dilley on March 25, 2009 at 10:19 AM
I'll echo James' comments... Still, lots of interest here.
Posted by Jack Graham on March 25, 2009 at 12:19 PM
what James said...... however after looking at this for more than a minute or two it kind of grows on me. maybe darker sky? very interesting shot and the B&W works great.
JG
I do have a few shots that are zoomed in more. On those images, the sky doesn't show much. I tried differenrt crops but I felt this one gave a good idea of the surroundings. As for that line in front of the lighthouse, it's a branch from the tree. I moved around to get the best angle. I would love to shoot this at sunrise or sunset with a nice sky. It is quite the interesting lighthouse. Thanks for your input!
Posted by Marc Adamus on March 25, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Snow in Bandon at the end of March! I like the lonely feel here, and the centered treatment doesn't bother me. There's a slight halo around the land that could use a bit of attention.
We driving back ffrom the Mill Casino in North Bend at about 11pm Sunday night and a heavy shower turned into a blizzard for about ten minutes... As for the image, I just wanted to do a bit of show and tell since I have never seen it before in any type of image. I'll keep it for memory but not much else.
I love the sky. I might process it a little more to create a little more separation between light and dark areas. I might also lighten the lighthouse itself a little more to make it stand out a bit. Overall though, I think this is a nice, dramatic photo.
The sky is a long way from the raw file. you could barely make out the detail before I worked it. I processed it in LAB and it was about as far as I felt comfortable going.
Discussion
13 repliesNice treatment on the B&W, I like the depth in the clouds a lot. We experienced some of that coastal snow last year about this time in Astoria, and couldn't believe it.
Two things that distract me a bit, are the horizontal line connecting the lighthouse to the right most tree and the vertical line going through the center of the left most tree. Otherwise, really nice capture under tough lighting conditions.
-Brett
Boy, it was cold over the weekend. I ran into about 4" of snow in the hills due East of Bandon on Sunday. It was a shocker for the location and time of year.
JG